The Frankee-Lee Hearing Spree.

Meet Frankee-Lee. When I first read about Frankee, it was today in The Examiner. She wasn't born with ear canals and she is bilaterally deaf. She can hear again with surgery that will cost $100,000. Read her story, visit her website.

Here's the beginning:

Frankee-Lee Shaw was born on the 16th of July 2009, in Latrobe Tasmania.

Born what appeared to be the portrait of ideal health, a stunning baby. On her second day, Frankee was unsuccessful on her first newborn screen hearing test, and three successive hearing tests in the gap of 6 weeks following that.  The failed tests had the blame laid on technical issues to vernix in her ears, and everything in-between.  On the last test, her parents were informed she had a mild conductive loss in both ears. 

Beside themselves, irritated and worried they had to accept the diagnosis.
When Frankee was 6 months old, they moved to Noosa, Qld.  It was there at 19 months old it was supposed that she had Glue Ear and would call for grommets.  It was a critical moment, as the operating theatre is when they got the news that should have been diagnosed the day she was born, the devastating news that Frankee didn't have any ear canals and that she is bilaterally deaf.  At the follow up appointment at the Ear Nose and Throat specialist is when they were introduced to the name ATRESIA, so rare that 1 in 10,000 children are born with it. When their beautiful baby girl was fitted with hearing aids, and then began their journey through Auditory -Verbal Therapy.

Every dollar counts for one of our own, right?

Donate Now!



Tams.x 

The Breakfast In Bed.

So? Who's coming to my house for breakfast on Sunday?

Here's the menu!!!

Poached Egg and Smoked Salmon

on

Toasted Turkish bread

Preparation Time

15 minutes

Cooking Time

10 minutes

Ingredients (serves 4)

4 eggs, at room temperature

1/2 Turkish loaf, cut into quarters, toasted

50g baby rocket leaves

8 slices smoked salmon

Dill sprigs, to serve

Dill hollandaise

1 tbs white wine vinegar, plus extra for poaching eggs

4 black peppercorns

1 shallot, finely chopped

1 egg yolk

100g unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbs finely chopped dill

Method

(1) To make the dill hollandaise, combine the vinegar, peppercorns and shallot in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook for 1-2 minutes or until vinegar reduces by half. Remove from heat and strain through a fine sieve.

(2) Place the vinegar mixture and egg yolk in a medium heatproof bowl over a saucepan half-filled with simmering water. Use a balloon whisk to whisk while gradually adding the melted butter in a thin, steady stream. Continue whisking until thick and creamy. Add the lemon juice and dill; taste and season with salt and pepper.

(3) Add extra vinegar to a deep frying pan filled with water and bring to the boil over high heat. Reduce to low and bring to a simmer. Crack an egg into a small cup. Use a large spoon to stir the water to create a whirlpool. Gently slide the egg into the water and poach for 1-2 minutes for a soft poached egg or until cooked to your liking. Use a slotted spoon to transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining eggs.

(4) Place the Turkish toast on serving plates. Top with rocket leaves, salmon slices, poached eggs and a dill sprig. Spoon over hollandaise sauce and serve immediately.

 

See you then?

Ha!

Tams.x

 

 

The Dahlia Brooch.

Check it out DIY-ers....

Four things to make this... That is ALL!

Scissors,

Felt,

Hot glue gun with glue,

and a brooch back.

Very quick too.

Thinking of doing something like this myself.

Nice find.

Craftiness Is Not Optional offer a twelve picture tutorial with pretty simple instructions.

:)

 Tams.x

The Upcycled Catbed.

Well, well, well....

Look what the cat dragged in!

The have an Etsy shop - Atomic Attic - Check out for other recycled items!

Tams.x

The T-Shirt Rag Pillow.

I don't know about most of you, but if a was a teenager, I'd want this on my bed - or maybe a bit more girlie.

What a great project to keep in mind for when I have children and all those clothes you buy that they only ever wear once because they fit for the best part of 3 seconds... why not make a memory pillow!

Great idea - if your anything like my Mom, you still have a box labled "Tamsyn's baby clothes" 21 years after the fact.

I give this a beginners rating - you don't even have to hide the seams - you just leave them there and cut them up - fantastic!

Have fun checking this DIY over on Fiskars.

Keep smilin'

 Tams.x

The Thousand Apologies & DIY.

Oh my goodness, I feel we must apologize for the amazing holiday we have both had...

Since we last post anyhow.

A number of things have happened.

We have made many sales (Woohoo!).

Anyway, I want you guys to check out this awesome

DIY "LOVE" knockoff pillowcases for your beds!

Absolutely amazing!

Over at Flamingo Toes they have a DIY tutorial to get these letter on your pillowcases!

If you do it, I wanna see your creations!

Buhbye,

 
Tams.x

The Christmas Shopping.

So first of all, I'm sorry - I've deprived you all of my presence lately. So much to do, not enough time to do it! Glad that Steph has been pulling all the weight around here - I think I should shout her lunch soon!!

But enough of that and on to a little bit of late Christmas shopping.

Here's some of the top Christmas presents this year for anyone... I've picked out of the list what I would like and think you would enjoy.

Road to Mandalay soap bar - $8.00

Blue and White tea cups - $20.00

Eco Clay (100% natural play dough) - $29.95

Calico Shoppers (fruit, veg & flower images) - $5.00

Vintage Fabric Leaf Brooch - $21.95 

And they're all eco-organic & natural. Love it!

Happy shopping!

 

Tams.x

 



The Brooklyn Limestone.

 

I have a new-to-me favourite blog that I really want to share with you. I love the design and layout of the blog, the well-planned and explained tutorials and the inspiring content. I have just lost an hour or so exploring and just had to come back and share :-)

The site is called Brooklyn Limestone and features articles on design, travel, entertaining, craft and, of course, the pictorials of the ongoing renovation of a beautiful Brooklyn Limestone house in New York. Delicious.

I was seduced by so many projects but particularly liked the styling of this project 

from Christmas 2009

See here for the tutorial on screen-printing the tea-towels.

Their latest post is another beeootiful wreath of greenery 

(maybe you can tell by now that I am sold on the whole greenery idea)

here

I will definitely be coming back for more of this one!

Stephanie.x

The Pendant Lampshade.

More from How About Orange with a really inspiring post that features not one but 

FIVE different handmade pendant lampshades sourced in blogland

that you can copy at home!

See here for the links to the how-tos

Stephanie.x

The Neat Treat.

If you liked the idea of Advent boxes filled with little treats in an earlier post,

here is a clever idea from
How About Orange

Little boxes made from paint swatches! So cool.

But not, in my opinion, quite as cool and clever as this 

AWESOME paper ball ornament!

See here for the how-to

I think these fantastic balls in white would fit right into a simple-but-sophisticated Christmas theme, don't you?

Stephanie.x

The Just-In-Case Gift.

If you are still searching for small-but-perfect gifts, look no further than

boygirlparty on Etsy.

This gorgeous shop features items drawn and hand-painted by artist Susie Ghahremani. Susie has been a "proud indie artist" since 2001 and was the winner of a
2010 poll for Best DIY Designer. 
See here for more about Susie, her work and blog.

2012 planner

pocket mirror

recipe cards

magnet 

Check out Susie's Etsy Shop 

for these and hundreds more great gift ideas. These are affordable enough to have one or two extra gifts wrapped in your home/handbag/desk for that AWKWARD moment when you are given a gift by someone you hadn't planned to buy for!

What do you mean that doesn't happen to you? It's just me??

Stephanie.x

The New Owl.

#Sigh #

Did I mention that foxes are the new owl? 

Although I have also heard mention that peacocks are muscling in.
I am just loving this Etsy shop by Stacie Bloomfield - too, too cute :-)

Gingiber

Also loving these ceramics by Alyson Fox. 
Ha! How could I not put these two in the same post :-))

Alyson Fox at Ink Dish

Stephanie.x

The Advent of Holidays.

How about this amazing wreath of succulent plants to grace your home for the holidays?

How fitting for a natural/eco theme this year.

Flower Girl via Loeffler Randall

Tell us about your project:

"It's a living succulent wreath. With there being more of a heightened awareness of being green and our carbon-footprints, as well as everyone being drawn to succulents in general, I turned it into a living wreath that works for the holiday season and beyond - too pretty!" 

Denise Porcaro - Flower Girl

Visit here to see the incredible "how to" and create your own living wreath for the holidays

The next two projects come with generous free printables from Jordan at Oh Happy Day.

Jordan is a letter press printer and has created stylish templates for these DIY advent calendars, the first using muslin bags (available online), the second using craft boxes...

 

free printables 

So get crafting before first of December and give your little ones/hubby/workmates a smile as they count down to Christmas!

Stephanie.x

The Teatime Treat.

Thanks to Michael Penney at House and Home

Grandma Austin’s Shortbread Cookies

1 cup butter
1 cup flour
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup icing sugar

Beat butter until light. Sift flour, cornstarch and icing sugar into butter and mix well. Flour hands and roll into small balls. Place balls on ungreased baking sheet and flatten with fork. Bake 20-25 minutes at 300°F.

Who is Grandma Austin? Click here to find out!

Stephanie.x

The Festive Pinboard.

House and Home

A super-simple idea for creating a cosy Christmas feel in your hallway - stylish, space-saving, fresh and not too fussy. 

I have to tell you I have already copied this idea in my own home (yes, I KNOW it's only November but it was all in the interests of research, O.K?). 

Actually, mine did get a bit more fussy because I added an ivy garland over the top...

 Oh, and I also fiddled with this 'cos I found a big stick had broken off the birch tree in the garden and I thought it would be kind of useful for hanging baubles on in the hallway (no, we don't use that doorway, it's the storeroom).

Yeah, it's fussy. What can I tell you, I'm a born fiddler ;-)

Stephanie.x

The Perfect Wrap.

Today I found this simple idea for DIY gift wrap. Who doesn't love cheap and easy?

This would keep the  kids busy for an evening or two as well!

from  A Pair of Pears via Poppytalk

Stephanie.x

The Latest Edition.

EEEE!!!

The latest issue of Lonny magazine is live online here!

This delicious Christmas issue will help you find the perfect presents...

plan your parties with simple style tips that will take the stress out of the season...

 and create elegant living spaces for family and friends.

For those of you who don't enjoy a Christmas overload, relax - there is plenty in this edition of Lonny to educate, entertain and excite you. For example, this little tutorial on the history of style...

and a beautiful collection of featured homes and work spaces for you to browse.

Enjoy!

Stephanie.x